The present invention relates generally to an incinerator, and, more particularly, to a refuse incinerator for home use for burning most household wastes.
Incinerators for home use were once very popular with thousands of units manufactured each year. In 1993 during an energy conservation movement, the use of gas for incineration was effectively banned thereby halting the manufacture of home incinerators. When the ban was lifted, manufacturing did not resume. A gas incinerator for home use required a masonry chimney which meant that in addition to the purchase of an incinerator unit, skilled tradesmen had to be employed for the installation. A problem with conventional incinerators was that the metal stove pipe connecting the incinerator to the masonry chimney became very hot during use often glowing red thereby posing a hazard. These incinerators would not burn magazines or similar articles and created considerable ash which had to be shoveled out by hand. It is desirable to have an outdoor home incinerator to burn combustible home waste materials that would otherwise find their way to a landfill.
Briefly summarized, according to one aspect of the present invention, an incinerator, comprises a combustion vessel having a chamber, an exhaust leading from the chamber, an air intake leading to the chamber, and a gas intake leading to the chamber. The incinerator has a base trap, means for moving flue gas from the chamber to the base trap, and means for cooling flue gas in the base trap. The incinerator has an afterburner, means for moving cooled flue gas to the afterburner, and a filter interposed between the base trap and the afterburner for removing any particulate from the cooled flue gas.
The incinerator mixes fresh air with burning propane gas to amplify the heat generated by the flames for high temperature burning in short periods of time. At the same time, a flue gas transport system cools down the flue gas and moves it into an afterburner for mixing with fresh air and final burning to produce harmless carbon dioxide and water vapor. The incinerator does not require a chimney, emits no smoke and stores the small amount of solid residue in a small ash tray. Once started, operation is automatic requiring no attention from an operator.
These and other aspects, objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood and appreciated from a review of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and appended claims, and by reference to the accompanying drawings.